All language subtitles for Operation Bottleneck (Edward L. Cahn, 1961).english

MERC DAVENPORT: This was the map they
showed us after we volunteered for the job.

Looking at Burma
and the Malay Peninsula

and Indonesia this way, without
seeing all the Japs behind the trees,

the jumps we were
going to make into Burma

seemed like we'd volunteered
for a Sunday school picnic.

February 17th, 1944,

that's the day we took off from the
American Air Commando Base at Lohagad.

Over Burma, the jungle looked a
lot different than I had pictured it.

My name's Merc Davenport.

The only reason
I made corporal I guess

is because they had
nobody else to promote.

Thinking about
what we had to do,

I guess all of us felt like
we'd swallowed a mortar shell.

Just about when I was ready
to tell the lieutenant

I'd changed my mind
about wanting to be a hero,

the warning light began to jump.

Ready signal.

Look up.

Let's go.

MERC: Somewhere in that
Burma jungle below us

was a sharp curving section
of road we had to blow up.

Because of those curves, the brass
called this section, The Bottleneck.

The drop was supposed
to bring us close to it.

The only thing we didn't know was
how close it might bring us to the Japs

who controlled the area.

There's no turning back now.
We were flying through the air.

A deal strictly for the birds.

We hit the ground okay.
All except the lieutenant.

He hit a rock first.

Here we were loaded down with
the right weapons and supplies

to make our job a success.

And it had to be a rock
that loused us up.

Okay. Marty, take Merc and another
man and pick up the equipment.

Yes, sir.
Let's move out, Merc.

Tom, you come too.

Okay, the rest of you,
take out those spades

and bury these chutes
on the double.

Bury this chute.

Got everything
in the drop, Marty?

All but one case of K-rations.

Well, we'll just have
to do without it, that's all.

Want to be long gone
from here by morning.

Right.

Okay, coolies,
sling those bails.

- Supply detail's coming back, Lieutenant.
- All right.

That's a mighty mean ankle
you got there, sir.

Yeah. Wouldn't you know.

Fifty jumps in practice
and never a scratch.

It can't be helped now, guess
you just have to live with it.

(RATTLING)

Supplies are all buried
safe, Lieutenant.

There's a nice pool of
fresh water back up the trail

- so, there's no worry on that score.
- Good. Good.

What did you
bring the radio for?

Wouldn't check out. It got
jolted around in the drop, I guess.

Oh, boy. Oh, well,
that's all right.

We're not supposed to use it
unless we really have to anyway.

I'll carry it down later.

All right.

The first thing we have to
do is contact that Englishman.

Manders?

But you can't travel
on that ankle, Lieutenant.

We still got two weeks
before the Jap offensive.

Corporal, there's no such
as having too much time.

VOSS: We'll probably need
every minute we've got.

So, what we'll do is
split up the party, Marty.

Now, can you find this shrine
from this photo map.

MARTY: Right here.
Shouldn't be too hard?

All right.

A kachin woman will be at that
shrine at 08:00 every morning

until we make contact with her.

And you want me to go...
Alone?

No. No. You better take
Merc here with you.

He's our demo expert,
he's gonna place the charges

and maybe Manders can give
you a little dope on that bottleneck.

Okay.

I'll give you three days, Marty.

If you're not back by then,
I'll send somebody after you.

Let's go.

MERC: We had no trouble
getting to the shrine

where we were supposed to make
our contact with the kachin woman.

But waiting under that tree, we
felt like a couple of sitting ducks

for any Japs who might be
patrolling the area.

It's after eight o'clock,
is she going to show?

If she doesn't,
we'll come back tomorrow.

Do me a favor, wake me
when it's time for lunch, huh?

What's that?

Is that her?

Wait until we see what's in the
basket, what she does with it.

MERC: Hey, how can we be sure,
this gook gal is on the level?

MARTY: Relax. She was where
she was supposed to be

and did what she was
supposed to do.

MERC: Hey, we've been hiking
over an hour.

How do you know she's not
leading us right into a Jap bivouac?

Not far now, just up there.

- MERC: You never said she could speak English.
- You didn't ask.

MERC: The gal seemed to know
every tree and bush in the jungle.

And even when we got to
where she was taking us,

the entrance was so well hidden,
we didn't know we were there.

MANDERS: It really is
rather ridiculous I supposed

attempting to preserve modicum
with the civilized amenities

whilst living during a war
and existing in a jungle cave.

But then you see gentlemen, one of these
days I expect to walk out of the jungle

back into a peaceful world.

And when that time comes I really
would rather like to greet my friend

with some remnants of
refinement rather than as a...

A grubby jungle creature.

Now, what's the matter,
gentlemen?

Is there something wrong
with the whiskey?

MANDERS: Of course, it tastes
all right to me but then I've been...

No. No. There's nothing wrong
with the scotch, Mr. Manders.

It's just that...

Well, Merc and I,
we didn't expect this.

I quite understand.

And what bothers me is
if you had time enough

to build this bomb shelter then why didn't
you get out of here ahead of the Japs?

I could have indeed.

It was known for several months

that the Japs
would over-run all of Burma,

there was nothing to stop them.

But you see I have been Colonial
Officer here in Tamil Village

for some 22 years.

All my roots were here.

So by running away, what could I
accomplish beyond saving my own life?

By remaining,

by keeping my radio
in operation,

I thought I might be
of some small service.

How do you happen to have it?

I made it... Myself.

MANDERS: As a hobby.

Well, it sure came in handy
as you say for us.

Yes.

I'm not quite sure
why you are here.

I received a message to
expect a small guerilla party but...

We are a demolition party.
With just one target.

Oh?

MARTY: Here's where we are

and right along here is
the Kohima Road into India.

I guess you know the Japs
are planning an offensive.

There has been some talk in
the village but as to time or place...

Time 0700,

date, 8th March.
Place...

MERC: Right here.

- Our people know all of this?
- And more.

They know that the Japs want
Imphal. That's our strong point.

If they take it, they can cut
the railroad supplying China.

And see this small point
in the road right here?

MARTY: From the air photos,
that seemed like a bottleneck.

Headquarters figured if a small
demo party could get in there,

wait until just an hour or two
before the offensive and blow it up.

It might take them days
to get it open again,

louse up their whole timetable.

(CLEARING THROAT)
I see, yes.

Well, certainly, supply is the key
to any success in jungle operations.

And all Japanese supplies
must go up the Kohima Road.

Well, what do you think?

Well, is it practical
or are we off base?

Yes, it's practical, chaps

except for one thing...

Yourselves.

Now, I think you have a very
good chance of blowing up the...

This bottleneck as you call it.

But as to your chances
of getting away yourselves,

I put them at practically nil.

Um... Zero.

I guess we knew it would be
something like that

when we stuck
our necks out, sir.

(WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY)

You're sure of this, Atsi?

Word was sent from the village.

This is bad.

- The Jap knows you're here.
- How do you know?

From Atsi's daughter.

I don't get it. How could a girl
know what the Japs are up to?

- She is their prisoner in their teahouse.
- What teahouse?

Well, actually it's my old,
colonial residence in Tamil Village

but now it's a sort of...

Informal Japanese headquarters.

Informal?

Yes. They've seized the most
attractive girls in the village

and they keep them
there under guard

for the... Entertainment
of the officers.

- That's cozy.
- And your daughter is one of them?

At least she is alive.

And from time to time she
slips out with information.

The most important of which I have
sent back to our headquarters via my radio.

- We better get back and warn the others.
- MANDERS: No.

No, it will be dark soon
and you could never

find your party
in the jungle at night.

And neither can the enemy.

In the morning will be
much more sensitive.

How about another drink? Hmm?

Okay. Well, it's going
to be a long night.

MERC: I don't know whether
the Japs were hungry or not

but it sure didn't take
them long to sniff out

those K-rations
we'd lost in the trees.

Hold your fire, Tom!

- Jap patrol, Lieutenant.
- All right. Spread out. Hide. Quick.

- Come on.
- Go ahead. I'll cover you.

Let me help you. Come on.

Do you really think they
found the rest of the guys?

Why else would they be firing?

I knew we should have
started back last night.

It wouldn't have helped.

Where are the guys?

Cover me.

Who is it?

It's Tom.

Where are the rest?

Hold it.

Benjy!

It's Marty and Merc.

Any idea how they found you?

How did they find Pearl Harbor.

Where's lieutenant?

Japs got him... Alive.

And what do we do now, sergeant?

Ask me something easy.

Far be it for a corporal
to tell a sergeant what to do.

What are you getting at?

The nips are going to be
wanting to know what a little

- cub pack is doing in their playground.
- So?

So they just got the guy
who can tell them.

You mean the lieutenant?

And they got all kinds
of little mean tricks,

skewed ways for making
conversations out of strong silent types.

Yeah, they've used
torture before.

The lieutenant would open up

and I for one wouldn't
blame him too much

where would that leave
operation bottleneck?

Nowhere.

He wouldn't let us
within 10 miles in it.

If it makes you happy
I'll agree you've got a point.

But would you mind telling
me what we'd do about it?

Even if we knew
where they took him.

Why don't you leave that
up to the high brass?

- Huh?
- Call him on a radio.

No good. It got busted
up in a drop.

Manders still has his hand set.

That's right.

Just about time to make it
back there by dark.

Want me to go with you?

There's no need for two.
I'll make it quicker alone.

You stay with the rest.

I'll see you in the morning.

MERC: Just like Manders said,

the Jap officers had set themselves
up real good in Manders' house.

I'd seen plenty of co-ed schools

but this was the first co-ed company
headquarters I'd ever heard of.

(PEOPLE CHUCKLING)

Come in, Lieutenant.
Come in.

Here, you see
our distinguished prisoner.

Brave man, the Lieutenant.

Sake.

Sit down, Lieutenant.

Sake, Lieutenant?

If it were drug
that are poisoned

we would all be affected too.

Go ahead drink.

OFFICER: It will strengthen you.

Rulan H. Voss, 0373601.

Second Lieutenant,
United States Army Air Force.

And that's all you're going to
get from me, captain.

Sake or no sake.

Thank you.

So what happens now?

You are a brave man, Lieutenant.

For a Yank.

Thanks a lot.

To resist capture
so cleverly and so strongly.

Such fighting skill comes only
from training and practice?

You see, captain, I did
a little boxing in college.

I was sure of it.

That is why I decided

we must have a match.

A match?

To see which is superior.

Your style of fighting...

Or ours?

That won't be much
of a test, captain.

I'm a little beat up
and I got a bad ankle.

You are saying you are afraid?

I'm just facing facts. Test is
supposed to prove something.

This one won't.

Then perhaps

you would rather
answer some questions.

I'm just a lieutenant.

Ask any G.I., lieutenants,
they don't know anything.

Perhaps... Perhaps not.

Anyway we shall see.

This is Koji, the best we have

in our style of self-defense.

Begin please.

Please stop! Stop.
Oh, stop! Please, stop it!

Perhaps now the American will
be ready to tell us what he knows.

What's the idea?

I am Ari.

I wish to care for you.

Why?
How'd you get in here?

I was ordered here
by the captain.

Oh?

So you speak English and you're
supposed to take care of me, huh?

Anything to keep me alive
and get me to talk.

It won't work, Missy, so pick up
your bandages and get out of here.

But I can't go.

I'm ordered to spend
the night here.

Oh...

Now, may I ask what for?

Whatever you wish.

Hmm.

And you really think that you can
get some information out of me, huh?

I do not know, Lieutenant.

I only do what I'm told.
That's all.

Hmm.

So it just doesn't matter whether
I cooperate or not, is that it?

It matters very much.

If I knew you would talk to them

I would poison you.

I don't get this.

I don't get this at all.

A girl like you?

A girl like me?

What kind of girl am I,
Lieutenant?

What do you mean
what kind of a girl are you?

You live here, don't you?
Upstairs with them?

Naturally you would
think that, of course.

That we had a choice.

Before the war came
my mother worked

for a British colonial officer
here in Tamil.

For Manders?

He arranged for me to go
to medical school in Rangoon.

I love helping people
and caring for them.

But then the Japanese came
and since then...

Oh...

Yeah.

Well, haven't you ever
tried to escape?

Two girls tried when we
are first seized

and they were hunted down
and shot.

I'm sorry I've added
my trouble to you.

- If you wish me to go...
- Go where? Back up to them?

No. No way. I don't want
you to go. Not yet anyway.

- Sit down.
- As you wish, Lieutenant.

Uh, that's enough of that stuff.

There's only one reason
you're going to stay here...

And that's to keep you away from
them. Nothing else. Is that clear?

Clear, Lieutenant.

But we are being watched.

We must make them think
what they wish to think.

Pretend to sleep.
Then they will not bother us.

(SIGHS)

I just can't do it, sergeant.

It just is not worth it.

Do I have to force you?

Sergeant, understand that
it's not that I don't want to help.

But one must weigh
a comparative value.

This mission
is mighty important.

Then how would one final
message help you to accomplish it?

Final message?

Sergeant, why do you think I've been
able to exist here for so long alone?

Simply because
the Japanese do not have

enough monitoring
stations in this area.

Now, with this offensive
coming up that is no longer true.

They've been setting up
more monitors?

One minute after
I turn on that set,

the Japanese will have our
position here cross-plotted exactly.

You've got a point.

Besides, what could
your headquarters do

even if they were
informed of the situation?

No, sergeant, it seems to me

that it's up to you now.

- I guess.
- Come on.

Sit down and have a drink.

We'll all be able to think
much more clearly

when Atsi gives us some dinner.

Neat, I would say,
under the circumstances, hmm?

The neater the better.

- Mr. Mander.
- What is it, Atsi?

- The American lieutenant...
- What about him?

Ari has sent word he is
prisoner at the teahouse.

The teahouse? That's where
you said they had the girls?

Yes. Now, it's also
the headquarters

of the Japanese guard company
that controls this stretch of the road.

Only a company? Then there
shouldn't be too many guards.

Precisely what I was
thinking myself.

- How many of there are you?
- Five.

- Hmm, are they well-armed?
- Submachine guns, BARs, grenades,

plus the carbines.

Unless that's possible, you might
be able to get through the wire

but you'd never get
inside the house unless you...

Unless...

Atsi, get me that file of capsules,
the prescription from my doctor.

Hmm?

Come here. I'll give you
a rough layout of the house.

MANDERS:
Here is the building, here.

The road is here
with trees, this place. Hmm?

MERC: Ari had the drug
capsules that Manders gave her.

All she had to do now was slip it
into the sake the Japs were guzzling.

Sit down, Lieutenant, please.

Hey, don't faint.

I will serve.

MERC: Believe me, this was
a kid who could use her head.

She fixed the glasses so that
the lieutenant would get plain water

and the Jap officers
would get the Mickey Finn.

OFFICER: Well, Lieutenant, what
do you think of our situation here?

VOSS: (SIGHING) I think
you're doing all right.

And last night in your cell,

it was not... Too unpleasant.

Well, let's just say that it
beats the Geneva Convention.

It's warm, captain.
Just as you like it.

Shall we get down
to the cases, Lieutenant?

I have a choice?

I could promise you
another night

with this delicate flower.

You merely tell me what you and the
other yanks were doing in the jungle?

Well, that's fair enough.

We were in a transport
flying to home

and we got blown
off our course in the storm

and ran out of gas,
so we had to bail out.

You take me for
a fool, Lieutenant!

You bailed out in greater
surprise, bailed out with you.

Well then,
you explain it, captain,

because you're not...

I've got a...

I'll take care of him, captain.

And when I help him to
recover, then he'll talk to you.

Guard, take him downstairs.

The girl will help you.

Make it quick.

I have wasted
too much time on him already.

Shh.

Be silent and listen.

I had to talk to you.

- Your friends are coming here tonight to free you.
- What?

- They don't even know where I am.
- I informed them.

Manders?

Oh...

But even if they get the guards
outside, these jokers upstairs...

I've taken care of them. Some
capsules Mr. Manders sent,

I put it into their drinks.

But not in mine?

Oh, you're all right, Ari.

The guard's outside.

Yeah.

Oh, look,
can you get him in here?

All right. Then you
leave him to me.

ARI: Guard, quickly over here.

Guard, quickly, over here.

Guard, come quickly.

Guard, over here, over here.

Looks quiet enough.

You're all set?

Can we get any better?

MERC: Breaking the lieutenant out of
his bamboo jail wasn't going to be easy.

One piece of luck was the jungle

coming right up to the clearing
around the headquarters.

Allowing us to get close.

Being the demolition expert, I had the
job of setting up the Bangalore torpedo

that would blow a hole
in the barbed wire.

Let's go!

Sergeant, sergeant?

Marty?

ARI: Ahhh!

Where are the others?

They're all dead.

All dead?

- Marty too?
- Marty too.

- Come on, Lieutenant, or we'll join them.
- Wait a minute.

What happens now to you?

- Does it matter?
- Yeah, to me it does. You're as good as dead here.

Please, he's right, you must go.

- Not without you. Come on.
- No, I won't go, not alone.

Not without them.

What, all of them?

The Japanese will treat
all alike after what happened.

Do something, Lieutenant.
Let's get out of here.

All right. All right.
The four of you, come on.

Well, come on.

There won't be any picnic
going through this jungle at night.

You'll have to keep up.
Now, come on.

MERC: It wasn't beer
and it wasn't liquor.

But man, where else could you
get this kind of service

and a floorshow along with it?

Quartermaster should hand
out girls like this to every G.I.

when they give him his uniform.

What will you do now,
Lieutenant?

I don't know, Ari.

Radio is broken
and just two of us left.

I don't know.

I like you, corporal.

I like you very much.

And now, let's forget that
corporal and call me Merc, huh?

Funny name, Merc.

Well, that's sort of a nickname,

but my real name is
Lester Davenport, that Merc,

that's... It comes from fulminate
of mercury, dynamite fuses.

You see, I handle explosives.
Heh...

Hmm, Merc, huh?

Hey, it's just like Sunday
in the park, is it?

Mmm.

Oh, hi, Lieutenant.
Having a ball.

This is great, just two guys
alone in the jungle.

Five beautiful...

You know if the guys back home
thought war was anything like this.

You'd have to fight them to keep
them away from the recruiting officers.

I think they'd have to
fight me anyway.

Nothing bothers you, does it,
Merc? Not even last night, huh?

What do you mean?
The other guys?

Oh, they got it, sure. But it could
just as easy been you and me.

Look, if it hadn't been for
them, where would you be?

Right where I should be,
corporal. A Japanese prisoner.

And there'd be six of us
alive now, instead of just two.

- Oh, wait a minute...
- What do you think, Merc?

I'd inform on you to the Japs?

- You out of your mind, going in like that?
- Oh, don't look at me.

Now, there's just two
of us left, just two.

So, you tell me what
happens to our mission,

to the bottleneck,
answer me that!

But, Lieutenant,
it wasn't my idea.

I wouldn't have gone after you.

I'm just a poor listed slob.

If somebody with bars
on his shoulders

or a stripes on his sleeves
tells me what to do, and I do it.

- Now, you wanted it...
- What are you talking about?

Marty...

Yeah.

All right, all right.

It's no good
blaming anybody now.

Did what he thought he had to,
I guess.

Question is just
where do we go from here?

Our mission is just as
important as it ever was.

Lieutenant, we ain't got chance in
a million to pull this thing off alone.

I know it. I know that. It's
not what I was thinking about.

We got to get some help
from headquarters, that's what.

Our radio is broken,
there's still Manders.

Well, we can't just leave these
girls alone here in the jungle.

Relax, Merc. You're
going to be staying here.

Ari can take me.

I will fill the canteen.

And don't you move away
from this spot, Merc.

I want you right here
when I get back.

I'll get along, Lieutenant.
Don't worry about me.

No. No, I wasn't.

Not really.

Ari, wait a minute.

Oh, your ankle.

I forgot. I'm so sorry.
Perhaps if I...

Look, maybe if we just sat down
and rested a few minutes, huh?

As you wish.

You first.

You hungry?

You know, Ari,

Merc wasn't all wrong.

I don't understand.

Well, I can think of...

A lot of worse ways
to fight a war.

That's because you're far
from home and your wife.

Uh-uh. No wife.

But there is a girl?

A special girl?

Well, there was one, yes.
She was pretty special, I guess.

But it's funny

I haven't thought much
about her for a long time.

And that's because
I'm here and she is not.

That's not true, Ari.
Believe me, it isn't.

Then it must be because
danger makes people very close.

You're right, very close.

Like in that Jap cell.
I'm glad we had that.

I am too.

But one must use your eyes
as well as their head

and also your heart.

With you, Ari, I...

I'd rather just use my heart.

Yeah. The fact that there's
been no word from the...

From the villagers,
is reassuring, I think.

Atsi, we have a saying,
bad news travels fast.

VOSS:
Commander, anyone in there?

MANDERS: Identify yourself.

Lt. Voss, US Army Air Force.

- Mama?
- Ari!

MANDERS: Oh, splendid my boy.

You managed
to get here all right.

A little worse for wear, I see.

Well, we wanted to get here by
dark, sir, but I have a bad ankle.

Yes, I understand.
What you need is a drink.

- No sake.
- Pre-war scotch.

Mama, this is
American lieutenant.

He rescued us from the Japanese.

Let's put that straight.
Your daughter saved me.

Ari's mother is grateful
for her daughter's life.

- Oh, thank you, sir.
- No. Please sit down.

I understand that some of
your chaps boarded last night.

Yes, sir, four of them.

Sergeant Regan?

Marty was one.

I'm sorry about that.

I liked that young man.

Yes, sir.

Well, that's why I came
here, sir. I need your help.

Oh... Um...

- Do you smoke, Lieutenant?
- Yes, sir.

Try one of these Burma cigars.

They, uh...

They're a whacking right white
cheroot if you remember your Kipling.

Oh, yes, sir.
That he seen her at first,

smoking on the road to Mandalay, isn't it?

- That's right.
- I remember it.

One acquires a taste for them.

Clearly, quite a good cigar.

Now, how can I help you?

Your radio, sir.

You see, our mission is still
vital but there's only two of us left.

And we have to contact the
headquarters to get us the help we need.

- What band?
- 12.6.

You had better encode
your message, Lieutenant.

VOSS: Over three hours.

You think they could find
somebody to wake up?

Coming in now.

Oh, that's great.

That's just great.

Not good?

"Message received, new Jap
offensive launched at Chittagong,

"all planes involved in Arakan.

"No help available.

"Must make do
with what you have.

"Signed headquarters."

Make do. Oh, well...

Make do with just two men.

So it was all useless.
Worth nothing.

I'm sorry.

Just what do they think
they're doing?

They're going to hand over
Imphal and maybe all of India

to the Japs on a silver platter.

That's what they're going to do.

With that Kohima Road open, the Japs will
have a cake walk right down to the railroad.

They must be quite
well aware of that

at your headquarters too,
Lieutenant.

I don't know
what I'm going to do.

Go back to your camp at once.

- Now, that is one thing that I can't do.
- Yes, this minute.

And you take Ari with you.

Take Ari?

No, no, she'll be better
right here with her mother.

That's questionable, Lieutenant.

Besides, you might not be able
to find your way back in the dark.

Oh, no, no.
I don't want to risk her life.

And you're prepared to
risk mine, is that it?

What do you mean by that, sir?

If they find the girl here,

they'll not only
kill her mother but myself.

I'm not prepared to risk that.

Ari goes with you
or she goes alone.

But she cannot stop here.

I sure had you
pegged different, Manders,

but I guess I was wrong.

All right, Ari,
you'll go with me.

And I hope you rot in your
snug little hole in the ground.

We're done.

But have a look around
before you go outside.

You love him, don't you,
my daughter?

I know.

It's in your eyes
whenever you look at him.

I love him.

You know he's different.

A white man,
it can lead to nothing

except your heart
must be broken.

Then it must be broken.

But I will be
happy for so little.

As long as you understand,
it is good.

I wish you both well.

The lieutenant
is waiting outside.

Ari.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for Ari.

It was all I could do.

Poor child...

Wait, wait.
I got to catch my breath.

Boy!

How could a man slip right in
among the Japs for over two years

suddenly turn yellow, thinking
about nothing but his own skin?

But Mr. Manders has always
been a brave and kind man.

Kicked us out like that right
in the middle of the night.

Well that doesn't make sense.

(FIRING IN THE DISTANCE)

Small arms fire.

Who'd they be shooting
out back there?

The cave.

At the cave.

VOSS: Jap patrol.

Okay.

Look!

Ari, wait.

ARI: Mama, mama.

For just two years, how'd
they find the cave now?

They couldn't have followed us.

That radio. He knew it.

It pinpointed his radio.

I'm sorry, Mr. Manders.

I'm sorry for whatever
I thought.

VOSS: Merc!

MERC: (CHUCKLING) Oh...

So you're back, huh, Lieutenant?

You stupid sloppy...

Manders and Ari's mother,
they're lying dead back in that cave.

- And you, you...
- ARI: No, please.

Oh, no, no. Ah...

Hey, Lieutenant...

Look, you got bars
on your shoulders.

You shouldn't have done
that, Lieutenant.

And you got it coming,
you know that.

ARI: Oh, stop. Stop.

ARI: Stop it. Oh!

- ARI: Stop.
- Now, wait a minute, wait a minute.

Listen to me.

Now, there's no line to push
that I have to like you.

But we're in this too together,

if we're going to get out,
we got to stick together.

There's just one thing, Merc.

If we'd been Japs
walking in on you,

you wouldn't be worried
about a fight, you'd be dead.

That's where you're
wrong, Lieutenant.

The Japs would be dead.

Look over in that tree.

There's Tai. She's got a carbine
and a pocket full of grenades.

And over there, Sawbu.

And they know how to use those
carbines because I taught 'em.

- How about the grenade?
- I dummied up a couple.

We had some basic training,
creeping, crawling, patrolling the woods.

Those girls
worked out all right.

All right.

I guess
I owe you an apology, Merc.

Shouldn't have lost my head
like that. I'm sorry.

Forget it, Lieutenant.

It was the greatest thing
in my life,

knowing my Lieutenant
and loving him.

But for him also?

He loves me too.

He has told me so.

But in these times
and circumstances,

what else would you
expect him to say?

So, they drop us in this
dirty, lousy, stinking jungle.

No word, no answer, nothing.

They happen to have a few
problems of their own, Merc.

Yeah, well, that helps us, huh?

You know what we're going to do, Lieutenant,
we're going to have to walk out of here.

Just like that, huh?

You know how
many miles that is, Merc?

I know how many miles it is,
but other jokers have made it.

They didn't have to be
in our position, that's all.

The girls, just what
happens to them, huh?

- We leave them here. They'll get along all right.
- How?

Like they did before
or maybe worse?

No...

No. I can't do it, Merc.

It just so happens that
I'm in love with Ari.

Love?

Oh...

Now, Lieutenant, you got to
be kidding, you can't mean that.

And just why can't I?

MERC:
Well, Ari is just a gook.

VOSS: Gook?

Well, yeah. I admit they got
your good points, Lieutenant.

Well, Lolo,
she's a ball of fire but...

Where are you from?
You're from Montana, right?

That's right.

Well, can't you imagine you walking
into your mom and dad's parlor

and you're saying, "Folks,
look here, I brought you home

"a new daughter-in-law,
and she may not be

"exactly what you had in mind
for me but..."

I brought you some coffee.

- Ari.
- Over here.

I didn't expect this, Ari,

but you ought to be sleeping.
You have to stay on guard for later.

I couldn't sleep.

Here, sit down.

Lieutenant?

This mission,
it means a lot to you?

Yeah.

It's just about
everything to me, Ari.

Look at it this way,

because I goofed up, turned
my ankle and got caught,

all but two of us are damned,
Manders and your mother too.

Because we can't pull it off, maybe
thousands of guys will be dead.

Now, that's what
I got to live with.

I've been thinking, in China many
of the girls fight in Guerrilla Army.

And even in the history
of my own country,

many of my own sex
die in battle.

So?

It was not difficult for Merc to teach the
girls how to shoot and throw a grenade.

And what the men
who were killed,

we're supposed to do
on the mission,

could five girls not do the job?

What are you talking about,
you mean want to...

No... What's the matter
with you, Ari?

Why not?

Because it just wouldn't work,
that's why not.

You haven't had any
training or anything.

There's more than a week,
could you not teach us?

No. That wouldn't be
enough time anyway.

In a week, you can tell
whether we can do it or not.

No. Now, will you forget it?

It could mean saving many
of your men's lives.

Yeah, you're right.

It is a possibility.

But, Ari, you know the odds,
why do you want to risk it?

This is our country
they invaded.

We have all lost
our home and families.

Okay. Okay, Ari.
We'll give it a try.

Then it's settled.

You're a pretty
wonderful girl, Ari.

Would it be hard
what we have to learn?

Just depends. Mainly,
it's how to kill people.

How would we know
if we can kill people?

You never will until
you've done it.

Oh...

MERC: We managed to find a lot of
our supplies that the Japs hadn't found.

It was a shame covering up
these girls in G.I. uniforms

but I guess it made more sense.

It sure gave me a lift
to see the chicks

take the boot training like a
gang of hard-nosed sergeants.

But like Ari said,

they had their own good reasons
for fighting back at the Japs.

♪

You know, Merc?

I think we got a chance,
a real chance.

These girls have been
working out real well.

Oh, they do all right in the dry
run but what about under pressure?

You know something, Lieutenant,
that's the trouble with basic training.

By the time night comes,
everybody is just too tired.

Oh, yeah.

ARI: Lolo!

Where are you going?

I'm leaving.

Leaving? Why?

Do you think I like this crawling
in the ground, falling in the dirt?

I was meant to wear
good clothes and entertain.

- But to win the war.
- Oh, who would I care wins the war?

It is all the same.
Men are men.

But you escaped,
the Japanese will kill you.

Not when I tell them about
the two yanks in the jungle

and what they're planning.

You...
You're going to betray us?

Lolo?

She was going to betray us.

I had to do it.
I had to do it.

Well, I guess this answers
our question, Lieutenant,

whether they could kill
somebody or not.

What a waste.

What a dirty, stinking,
lousy, frying waste.

MERC: This was it.

Right on the nose.

The Japs started
their big push toward India.

The main target being Imphal.

And the only way they could do it was
over the bottleneck on the Kohima Road.

The one we were
supposed to blow up.

For two days,
we'd been watching the road

and we had a plan set up for
breaking through the Jap barricade

that blocked
our way to the bottleneck.

Okay, Merc, get ready.

Tai, strip his uniform off,
quick.

Tai, get in his uniform quick.

MERC: We'd hidden our
explosives wire and detonators

off the side of the road.

Now, we had to load them on the trucks
and get them out of there in a hurry.

♪

Okay. Get around
the other side. Ari, Ari!

Okay.

MERC: We got away with
the first part of our plan.

The next big jolt would come
when we try to get past

the Jap barricade and
through the bottleneck.

And so far, it's working
like a clock.

You and the girls
have been great.

What's the matter, Ari? This
last week you've been different.

I know it's...
I know it's been rugged

or a beat ready
to cut our throats.

Look, Ari, listen...

Is it something I've done?
If it is, I'll try to make it right.

No. It's nothing
you've done or can help.

It's nothing anybody can do.

There it is.

The bottleneck.

(GROANS)

MERC: The Jap army
was moving up the road

and we had to get our job
done before they got there.

We made it.
We're on the bottleneck.

Our plan was to plant three loads
of high explosives 30 feet apart.

We figured if we could
blow it up the road,

a piece of the hill would landslide
down and mess up that road real good.

All we needed was time.

We were working
against the clock.

It's all your baby now, Merc.
Keep your fingers crossed.

If our luck holds out another
couple of minutes, we got to make it.

Yeah. You're all right boy.
Lots of luck.

Likewise, Lieutenant.

MERC: And if we could only
have known that the Japs

had sent motor patrol units up the
road to scout ahead of the main force

it would have made a big
difference, big difference to a lot of us.

That's enough for me, Ari.

Get back, quick.

They got Merc.

No.

Lieutenant, what are you
doing out there?

- I thought you were hit, Merc.
- My feet slipped. Now, get out of there!

No, no can do.

Look, Ari, run. Get out of
here. There's still a chance.

I will not leave you now.

Light the fuse.

I can't, not with you there.

What's one gook, more or less?
Merc, light the fuse.

MERC: That'd mean if I set off the
fuse, both the lieutenant and the girl

would get blown up
or buried under tons of dirt.

It was up to me now, to
be the stinking slob corporal.

I had to make the decision.

The Japs never did get to India,

and I guess that's something
to consider on those nights

when I'll be thinking
about the lieutenant and Ari

and Lolo and the rest of the guys
and the chicks who are still back there.

It's like I've said before,
what a waste.

What a dirty, stinking,
crying, lousy waste.

♪